Category Archives: Software

Video: SpaceTraveller simulation of MSL’s seven minutes of terror

I posted previously about SpaceTraveller, a “solar system simulator and space mission visualizer program” under development by BINARY SPACE, which provides the Satellite Tracking Tool here and with whom I work to make the Virtual SpaceTV 3D animated news reports. That post included a video demonstrating a simulation of the Rosetta spacecraft as it maneuvered near Comet 67P/C-G.

Here is a new video showing a SpaceTraveller simulation of the famous ‘Seven Minutes of Terror’ as the  Mars Science Laboratory (i.e. the Curiosity rover) made its atmospheric entry, descent, and landing on Mars on August 6, 2012.

The trajectory, orientation and rotation data is derived from MSL’s sensors (with a certain time granularity). Trajectories for other objects than MSL (when not body-fixed to it) are approximate only (implemented manually).

For further info on SpaceTraveller, contact  info@binary-space.com.

The Kerbal podcast for the Kerbal Space Program

The Kerbal Space Program

is a game where the players create and manage their own space program. Build spacecraft, fly them, and try to help the Kerbals to fulfill their ultimate mission of conquering space.

Although inhabited by comic Kerbal characters, the underlying physics of the rockets and spacecraft is very realistic and accurate. (See the recent TMRO interview with Scott Manley who has created numerous tutorial videos for KSP.)

The KSP is becoming increasingly popular and has its own Kerbal Podcast. (It’s also available on YouTube.)

KerbalPodcast

They just posted their 35th program. Here it is on mp3:

Program topics:

– Oh, Eve. You cruel temptress! It’s our progress in the game.

– Your letters and the latest Kerbal news in this week’s Mission Briefing

– Is the Moon a star? Yes, someone on TV is actually confused about that!

All episodes available at kerbalpodcast.libsyn.com

Links mentioned in this episode:

Northstar needs help with a mod:

forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/103511-Pre-Release-0-90-Netherdyne-Mass-Driver-Mod

Is the Moon a planet?

Free MS-DOS Space Games at the Internet Archive

Phil Plait’s Introduction to Astronomy

 

Part 5: Photometry tutorial for amateur and pro astronomers

Rick Boozer on his Astro Maven blog has posted the fifth and final installment of Photometry with AIP4WIN: a Tutorial, which is aimed at astronomers both amateur and professional:

From Part 1:

The science of photometry can be used by both amateur astronomers and professionals for some very advanced scientific work.  You can detect the light changes caused by eclipsing binary stars, plot the changes in luminosity of a variable star and even detect an exoplanet orbiting another star.  This tutorial will be your step-by-step guide on how to employ the powerful Magnitude Measurement Tool that comes with the renowned astronomical imaging software known as AIP4WIN by Richard Berry and Robert Burnell.  Special thanks to Mr. Berry for giving me permission to include screen images and extensive operating details from AIP4WIN.

Part 4: Photometry tutorial for amateur and pro astronomers

Rick Boozer on his Astro Maven blog has posted the fourth installment of his Photometry with AIP4WIN: a Tutorial, which is aimed at astronomers both amateur and professional:

From Part 1:

The science of photometry can be used by both amateur astronomers and professionals for some very advanced scientific work.  You can detect the light changes caused by eclipsing binary stars, plot the changes in luminosity of a variable star and even detect an exoplanet orbiting another star.  This tutorial will be your step-by-step guide on how to employ the powerful Magnitude Measurement Tool that comes with the renowned astronomical imaging software known as AIP4WIN by Richard Berry and Robert Burnell.  Special thanks to Mr. Berry for giving me permission to include screen images and extensive operating details from AIP4WIN.

Buzz Aldrin’s Space Program Manager – “the ultimate game of space exploration”

The UK company Slitherine Ltd  created the space-themed game Buzz Aldrin’s Space Program Manager.

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Buzz Aldrin’s Space Program Manager (SPM) Road to the Moon is the ultimate game of space exploration.

It is the mid 1950s and the race for dominance between the US and the Soviet Union is about to move into a new dimension: space. Take charge of the US or Soviet space agencies – your duty is be the first to the moon. Carefully manage your budget by opening programs, spending R&D funds on improving the hardware, recruiting personnel and launching space missions in this realistic turn based strategy game.

Road to the Moon features the race to the Moon, the historical event that started in the early 1960s and that ended in July 1969, after the successful completion of the Apollo 11 mission.

The game features both a campaign and a sandbox mode. In campaign mode, you will be able to play as the Director of either NASA or the Soviet Space Agency in order to beat the other side to be the first on the Moon. You can also lead the  Global Space Agency (GSA), an fictional space agency that combines programs from all the major space agencies in the world . In the GSA campaign, you will need to address the requests and short-term goals issued by government, and is geared towards those players who prefer a game experience focused on exploration instead of competition.  Alternatively, all three space agencies feature a Sandbox mode, which provides a more open-ended experience and allows you to try out different approaches without any political pressure.

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You will be able to develop dozens of programs. Some examples include the X-15 and the PKA space planes, the Sputnik satellite, the Mercury, Voskhod, Apollo and Soyuz manned spacecraft and the Mars Viking probe. You are not limited to missions that did launch, as as the game also allows you to try out many concepts that were planned but that never left the drawing board. For example, instead of sending men to the Moon using the Lunar Orbit Rendezvous (LOR) approach used by Project Apollo in the late 1960s and early 1970s, you will be able to rewrite history and use either the alternative Gemini Earth Orbit Rendezvous (EOR) or Gemini Direct Ascent (DA) schemes. The number of options available ensure every game will be different and there is huge replay value.

To verify its accuracy and authenticity, the game, is being developed in consultation with Dr. Buzz Aldrin, former U.S. Air Force combat pilot (66 missions in Korea) and NASA astronaut, who took part in the first Moon landing mission and became the second human being to walk on the Moon.

If you have any interest in space exploration and the events that transpired during the ‘Race to the Moon’, this is a game you just do not want to miss!

Continue…

Some background about the game: Second man to walk on moon helps create space game (From This Is Local London)

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Here are a couple of reviews: